AID SUPPLIES POUR INTO GUATEMALA DEAD PUT AT 15,000

GUATEMALA, Feb. 9—Relief supplies poured in by air today and were being moved quickly to areas devastated by the earthquakes of last week, one of the worst natural disasters in Latin American history.

Estimates of the death toll from the quakes of last Wednesday and Friday continue to rise. United States and international relief officials said that after five days of ground and aerial surveys of the damage they believed that more than 15,000 people had perished. They put the total injured at more than 40,000 and the homeless at nearly 500,000.

Guatemalan Government estimates of the death toll were several thousand higher by late today, and international relief officials said they believed these might not be exaggerated. They said the toll would probably mount even further as isolated villages were reached and rubble in towns removed.

Aftershocks continued to topple more homes already weak from earlier quakes. Fresh landslides continued to block roads, hampering relief efforts.

United States officials here were discouraging the influx of doctors, medical teams and other medical volunteers from the United States. Guatemalan Army officials in charge of disaster relief said that without a coordinated supply network for volunteer doctors, they could not be used. Some 80 United States doctors have flown here independently.

“Unless they have some relief group in place here that is capable and willing to feed them, supply them and transport them they are more of a burden than an aid,” said one relief official.

If the casualty estimates are correct, the recent Guatemalan quakes have taken a higher toll than the one that struck Managua, Nicaragua, in December 1972, killing 10,000.

An even higher toll—70,000 killed—was recorded in an earthquake that struck Peru in May 1970.

The United States Ambassador, Francis E. Meloy Jr., a 58‐year‐old career foreign service officer, is in charge of United States relief efforts here. He said of the Guatemalan quakes:

“Based on information available to me, I believe this is the greatest disaster that has befallen Central America in recorded history.”

Mr. Meloy's information was based, in part, on evidence supplied by a seven‐member United States military survey team that has been appraising the destruction since Thursday.

The United States disaster survey team, headed by a United States Special Forces major, has brought Spanish‐speaking officers by helicopter into towns to seek casualty figures from local officials, doctors and Peace Corps volunteers. They checked back a couple of days later.

Guatemala's six million people, including perhaps two million directly affected by the quakes, have remained surprisingly calm and orderly. Reports of looting and other unrest have been minor and scattered.

The population remains anxious, however, fearing further damaging tremors, some 500 aftershocks have been recorded

The Guatemalan Government's disaster committee moved from the Presidential palace to the airport yesterday, and United States relief coordinators followed suit today in an effort to prevent the bottlenecking of supplies there. Medicine and other supplies must be sorted and earmarked for specific rural areas The heads of more than a dozen International relief groups met yesterday afternoon with United States officials in an effort to streamline the flow of supplies to the countryside

While praising relief efforts in the United States, these officials noted that one problem was that most groups were gathering medicine—tons of which had already arrived or was on the way.

“We do not want tris place to be flooded with a 10‐year supply of medicine that is going to go out of date in six months,” said one official.

Gary Wederspahn, director of 128 Peace Corps volunteers here, noted that villagers were short of simple cooking utensils such as pots for boiling and thus were having trouble preparing newly arrived relief food supplies.

Other needs included tents, blankets, cast material for setting broken bones and simple hand tools like crowbars, shovels and wide hoes for digging, out and rebuilding homes Twoinch and three‐inch plastic waterpipe with connecting elbow joints, which are unavailable here, would be useful in rebuilding badly needed water systems, the relief officials said.

The United States Embassy has requested more helicopters in addition to those already here. Relief supplies continue to arrive by plane from more than 20 nations in Latin America and Europe, as well as on United States Air Force flights Pilots hace complained that air radio networks here have been jammed for several days y all the traffic.

By midafternoon today, more than 90 planes had arrived with relief supplies The United States Air Force had made 31 flights, 15 more were from private groups in the United States. Forty‐six flights arrived from other Latin American countries and from Europe

The earthquake's human toll was severe because it struck at 3 08 A.M when virtually everyone was home sleeping. Unlike the Nicaraguan earthquake in 1972, which was concentrated in Managua, the quakes here Wednesday and Friday were spread over a wide area.

People were killed in 13 of the nation's 22 departments Some 60 of the country's 326 cities and towns were hit; more than a dozen of them were almost destroyed.

According to Government and foreign surveys, more than half the nation's urban population and one‐fourth of the rural residents were affected in some way.

The most severe damage was concentrated in an arc about 100 miles north and west of the capital, in the department of Chimaltenango, Guatemala, and Sacatepéquez.

The city of Tecpán. near Lake Atitlán, was virtually leveled. It is estimated that 2,000 of the city's 25,000 residents were killed and 15,000 injured. In Patzicia, also leveled, the toll was also estimated at 2,000 dead and 15,000 injured.

Within a triangle stretching roughly from the city of Guatemala north to Rabinal and west to Tecpán, survey officials reported almost total destruction.

“There is hardly a town, a pueblo or even a building left standing,” said one United States military surveyor. “It's one giant landslide. “

According to census figures, about 340,000 people lived in that region Virtually all are homeless and living and sleeping outside

Water is reported to be very scarce in many of the villages in the mountainous terrain. Helicopter pilots report having difficulty finding landing sites because villagers have crowded makeshift tents into town squares or whatever flat places are left.

The resort town of Antigua, popular with American tourists, was thought to be 40 percent destroyed, with about 30 people killed. The university there was reported safe, but the top 10 feet of the old cathedral had toppled. Another tourist town, Chichicastenango, 100 miles northwest of the capital, was hardly touched. Beyond there to the north, damage was reported to be very light.

Another heavily damaged area was along the main highway that leads from the capital to Puerto Barrios. This vital fuel and food supply link was cut in more than a hundred places. The railroad that runs along it was also cut.

The town of El Progreso, hardest hit in that region, was virtually destroyed. An estimated 500 of its 11,000 residents, were killed

Although the epicenter of the Wednesday quake was believed to near Escuintla, 38 miles southwest of the capital, that area escaped major damage. Roads were open there and trucks were bringing fruit, seafood and other supplies from the undamaged Pacific seacoast lowlands into the capital.

Total damage to the capital remains unassessed. Most people went back to work today Water and electricity services were working but below remains unassessed Most day. Water and electricity services were working out below capacity.

Contrary to earlier reports sent out by some news agencies, there have been no confirmed reports of starvation in the city. In fact, food appears to be plentiful, if expensive. One report of people eating rats was branded as “ludicrous” by both Guatemalan Government and United States Embassy officials.

MEXICO CITY, Feb. 9 (AP) —The University of Mexico Seismological Institute reported a strong earth tremor this afternoon in the Pacific Ocean, centered about 40 miles south of the Maria Islands group. An institute official said the movement registered 5.5 to 6 on the Richter scale.

We are continually improving the quality of our text archives. Please send feedback, error reports,
and suggestions to archive_feedback@nytimes.com.

A version of this archives appears in print on February 10, 1976, on Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: AID SUPPLIES POUR INTO GUATEMALA DEAD PUT AT 15,000. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe